Label-holder



E. OHNSTRAND.

LABEL HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1920.

1,376,725. ented May 3, 1921.

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g y c/OH/V SMITH L IL- Cl ih I I a 9 Q4 4' inventor.

15 16 fiw'irand UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOCH OHNSTRAND, OF MOHAWK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LIBRARY BUREAU, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LABEL-HOLDER.

-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownv that I, ENOCH OHNSTRAND, a citizen-of the United States of America, and resident of Mohawk in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Label-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in improved means for providing shelf boards and the like with label plates, the object being to dispense with screw or nail fastenings through the labelplate and into board, to apply the label plate to the front edge of the shelf board more securely and permanently than is possible by the use of nail fastenings, to eliminate all projecting parts, associated with the label plate, such as clip-members, from the upper or supporting surface of the shelf board, to reduce to a minimum the projection of clip-members and the like from the lower side of the shelf board, and to provide, nevertheless, a label plate which can be 'quickly and readily attached or detached from theshelf board, leaving it free from any visible blemishes.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, label plates have been attached to the wooden shelf-boards of bookcases and the like, either by means of small nails, such as scutcheon pins, or have been provided with resilient clips which embrace the shelf board at top and bottom. Nail fastenings, and even screw fastenings, for label plates are notoriously insecure; they loosen whenever the wood, of which the shelf board is composed, shrinks; and where once so loosened cannot with any certainty be again made secure. Moreover, a nail fastened label plate cannot be shifted to another position (as is often necessary) without leaving the nail holes asa visible disfigurement on the exposed edge of the shelf board.

The use of any clip members which lie on the upper surface of a shelf board is undesirable, since it involves an obstruction to the insertion or removal of books and the like, and is liable to be displaced by such normal use of the shelf.

Bv means of my improvement, herein described, a label late and means for attaching it to a shelf board are provided which eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages, and which combine facility of attachment with security of lodgment, wlthout the front edge of the shelf involving any noticeable alteration in the surface of the shelf board.

In the drawings hereto annexed, which illustrate my invention- Figure 1 is a front elevation, showing part of a wooden shelf board, with label plate attached.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the label plate.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the label plate, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section of the shelf board and label plate, at the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In these drawings,1 represents an ordi' nary wooden shelf board. The means on the shelf board for providing securement of the label plate consist simply of a groove or kerf, 2, cut in the lower side of the shelf board'a short distance from, and parallel with, the front edge of the board. This kerf,-which will preferably be cut by a circular saw, is hardly visible when the shelf board is in use, and if noticed, is in 11 sense unsightly.

The label plate, 3, preferably made of thin metal, has its upper and lower edges and one end edge turned over as at 4, 4, and 5 in the usual manner, to provide a holder for the label 12; if desired a projection 6 may be struck up from the face of-the plate 3, to serve as a stop for the label 12.

The holding clip is a plate of resilient material, such as steel or hard brass, preferably as thin as is consistent with the strength required, and having a portion 7' which is fastened to the label plate 3 at the back thereof, a flat portion 8, and a spring tongue 9, terminating in a reverse curve at the lip 10. The securement of the holding clip to the plate will preferably be by means of spot-welds, as at 13 (Fig. 2).

The proportions of the holding clip are such that when the spring tongue 9 is inserted in. the kerf 2, it will be flexed, so as to draw the portion 7 of the clip closely against the front edge of the shelf board. The tongue 9 is guided into the kerf 2, and its flexure readil accomplished by the action of the Ii 10. n attaching the label plate by'the a ove described means, the tongue 9, is pressed into the kerf 2 until the flat portion 8. of the clip bears snugly againstthe lower side of the shelf board 1. lit will be observed that no part of the attached members lies above the plane of the upper side of the shelf board, and that the projection below the shelf board is reduced to the negligible thickness of the spring clip portion 8. Even if a book or other article, on being removed from the shelf below, should strike against the inner corner of the spring clip, it could in no wise disarrange or dislodge the clip and label plate attached thereto; these attached members must be pressed downwardly in order to be detached; no conceivable use or misuse of the shelves or their contents can exert such downward. pressure on the clip or label plate.

Usually it will be desirable to rely wholly on. the frictional engagement of the plate holding clip with the side of the kerf Q, and this frictional engagement will, no doubt suffice to hold the label plate in the position where it has been placed. If however, further insurance against displacement is desired, a short nail 11 can be driven. through the flat part 8 of the spring clip into the lower side of the shelf board, where the nail hole will not be conspicuous after thelabel plate has been removed. The use of such a nail fastening is not believed to be necessary in any case.

The ease with which the above described means for attaching labels to shelf boards can be manipulated either for attachment or detachment, or for lateral shifting on a shelf board without detachment, is obvious without further description.

I claim 1. The combination of a shelf-board, having a kerf cut in the body thereof on the underside, parallel with, and near the front edge of the shelf board, and a label plate adapted to lie against the front edge of the shelf board and a securing clip, attached to the label plate and comprising a fiat portion adapted to lie against the bottom of the shelf board between the front edge thereof and said kerf, and a resilient tongue adapted to enter the said kerf and frictionally engage the side thereof toward the front of the shelf board by resiliently pinching against said front side of said kerf.

2. The combination of a shelf-board, having a kerf cut in. the body thereof on the underside, parallel with and near the front edge of the shelf-board, and a label plate adapted to lie against the front edge of the shelf-board, and a securing clip, attached to the label plate and comprising a flat portion adapted to lie against the bottom of the shelf-board between the front edge thereof and said kerf, and a resilient tongue adapted to enter the said kerf by movement transverse thereto and frictionally engage the side thereof toward the front edge of the shelf-board.

3. The combination of a shelf-board, having a kerf cut in the body thereof on the under side, paralled with and near the front" edge of the shelf-board, and a label plate adapted to lie against the front edge of the shelf-board, and a securing clip attached to the label plate and comprising a flat portion wholly label plate, adapted to lie against the bottom of the shelf-board between the front edge thereof and said kerf, and a resilient tongue adapted to enter the said kerf and frictionally engage of the shelf-board, by resiliently pinching against said front side of said kerf. a.

Signed by me at Ilion, New York, this 29th day of April, 1920.

NOCH OHNSTRi iND.

below the lower edge of the the side thereof toward the front 

